Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

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Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Downtown Harrisburg and the Pennsylvania State Capitol, as seen from the Susquehanna River
Downtown Harrisburg and the Pennsylvania State Capitol, as seen from the Susquehanna River
Image:Harrisburg Flag.png
Flag		 Official seal of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Seal
Location in Pennsylvania
Location in Pennsylvania
Coordinates: 40°16′11″N, 76°52′32″W
Country United States
State Pennsylvania
County Dauphin
Incorporated 1791
Charter 1860
Government
 - Mayor Stephen R. Reed (D)
Area
 - City  11.4 sq mi (26.9 km²)
 - Land  8.1 sq mi (21.0 km²)
 - Water  3.3 sq mi (8.6 km²)
 - Urban  335.4 sq mi (539.7 km²)
Elevation  320 ft (98 m)
Population (2000, CSA 2005)
 - City 48,950
 - Density 2,997.9/sq mi (1,157.5/km²)
 - Urban 362,782
 - Metro 643,820
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
Website: http://www.harrisburgpa.gov/
This article is about the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. For other places named Harrisburg, see Harrisburg (disambiguation).

Harrisburg is the capital of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a state of the United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 48,950. The Harrisburg area population was 643,820, making it the fourth most populous metropolitan area in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Allentown. Harrisburg is the county seat of Dauphin CountyGR6 and lies on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, 105 miles (169 km) west-northwest of Philadelphia.

Harrisburg has played a critical role in American history during the Westward Migration, the American Civil War, and the Industrial Revolution. During part of the 19th century, the building of the Pennsylvania Canal and later the Pennsylvania Railroad, allowed Harrisburg to become one of the most industrialized cities in the Northeastern United States.

Contrasted with its 1981 status as the second most distressed city in the nation, Harrisburg has undergone a dramatic economic increase, with nearly $3 billion in new investment now realized.[1] The US Navy ship USS Harrisburg, which served from 1918-19 at the end of World War I, is named in honor of the city. Harrisburg is also known for the infamous Three Mile Island incident, which occurred in nearby Middletown.

Contents

[edit] History

Main article: History of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

The site along the Susquehanna River where Harrisburg is located is thought to have been inhabited by Native Americans as early as 3000 BC. Known to the Native Americans as "Peixtin," or "Paxtang," the area was an important resting place and crossroads for Native American traders, as the trails leading from the Delaware to the Ohio rivers, and from the Potomac to the Upper Susquehanna intersected there. The first European contact with Native Americans in Pennsylvania was made by the Englishman, Captain John Smith, who journeyed from Virginia up the Susquehanna River in 1608 and visited with the Susquehanna tribe. In 1719, John Harris, Sr., an English trader, settled here and 14 years later secured grants of 800 acres (3.2 km²) in this vicinity. In 1785, John Harris, Jr. made plans to lay out a town on his father's land, which he named Harrisburg. In the spring of 1785, the town was formally surveyed by William Maclay, who was a son-in-law of John Harris, Sr. In 1791, Harrisburg became incorporated and was named the Pennsylvania state capital in October 1812.

Postcard depicting Market Street in Downtown Harrisburg as it appeared in 1910. Trolley tracks are noticeable along the street.
Postcard depicting Market Street in Downtown Harrisburg as it appeared in 1910. Trolley tracks are noticeable along the street.

During the first part of the 19th century, Harrisburg was an important stopping place along the Underground Railroad, as escaped slaves would be transported across the Susquehanna River and were often fed and given supplies before heading north towards Canada[2]. The assembling here of the Harrisburg Convention in 1827 led to the passage of the high protective-tariff bill of 1828. In 1839, Harrison and Tyler were nominated for President of the United States at Harrisburg. By the 1830s Harrisburg was part of the Pennsylvania canal system and an important railroad center as well. Steel and iron became dominant industries. Steel and other industries continued to play a major role in the local economy throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century. The city was the center of enormous railroad traffic and supported large furnaces, rolling mills, and machine shops. The Pennsylvania Steel Company plant, which opened in nearby Steelton in 1866, was the first in the country; later operated by Bethlehem Steel[3].

During the American Civil War, Harrisburg was a significant training center for the Union Army, with tens of thousands of troops passing through Camp Curtin. It was also a major rail center for the Union and a vital link between the Atlantic coast and the Midwest, with several railroads running through the city and spanning the Susquehanna River. As a result of this importance, it was a target of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during its two invasions. The first time during the 1862 Maryland Campaign, when Lee planned to capture the city after taking Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, but was prevented from doing so by the Battle of Antietam and his subsequent retreat back into Virginia. The second attempt was made during the Gettysburg Campaign in 1863 and was more substantial. A short skirmish took place in June 1863 at Sporting Hill, just 2 miles west of Harrisburg. This is considered by many to be the northern-most battle of the Civil War.

See also: Skirmish of Sporting Hill

Many important events have helped to shape Harrisburg over the years. The Pennsylvania Farm Show, a the largest indoor agriculture exposition in the United States, was first held in 1917 and has been held every January since then. The present location of the Show is the Pennsylvania State Farm Show Arena, located at the corner of Maclay and Cameron streets. In June 1972, Harrisburg was hit by a major flood from the remnants of hurricane Agnes. On March 28, 1979, the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, along the Susquehanna River located south of Harrisburg, suffered a partial meltdown. Although the meltdown was contained and no radiation was released, there were still worries that an evacuation would be necessary. Governor Richard Thornburgh did recommend an evacuation of pregnant women and preschool children who lived within a five mile radius of TMI. Although there were about 5,000 people covered by this recommendation, over 140,000 people fled the area.

See also: Three Mile Island accident

After Harrisburg suffered years of being in bad shape economically, Stephen R. Reed was elected mayor in 1981 and has been re-elected ever since, making him the longest serving mayor of Harrisburg. He immediately started projects which would attract both businesses and tourists. Several museums and hotels such as the National Civil War Museum and the Hilton Harrisburg and Towers were built during his term, along with many office buildings and residences. Several semi-professional sports franchises, including the Harrisburg Senators of the Eastern League, the dufunct Harrisburg Heat indoor soccer club and the Harrisburg City Islanders of the USL Second Division began operations in the city during his tenure as mayor. While praised for the vast number of economic improvements, Reed has also been criticized for population loss and mounting debt. In December 2006, it was announced that mayor Reed was voted 3rd best Mayor in the World, with no other mayors from the US in the top five.[4]

Downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania panorama, as seen from the John Harris Bridge (2000).
Downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania panorama, as seen from the John Harris Bridge (2000).

[edit] Geography and Climate

Harrisburg is located at 40°16′11″N, 76°52′32″W (40.269789, -76.875613)GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 29.6 km² (11.4 mi²). 21.0 km² (8.1 mi²) of it is land and 8.6 km² (3.3 mi²) of it (29.11%) is water.

Harrisburg is located in the Susquehanna Valley, a rich and fertile agricultural region in south-central Pennsylvania. The region is also situated at the extreme western fringe of the BosWash megalopolis, the name for a group of metropolitan areas in the northeastern United States. Directly to the north of Harrisburg lies the Blue Ridge chain of the Appalachian Mountains. The Cumberland Valley lies directly to the west of Harrisburg and the Susquehanna River, stretching into northern Maryland.

Harrisburg's western boundary is formed by the Susquehanna River, which also serves as the boundary between Dauphin and Cumberland counties. The city is divided into numerous neighborhoods and districts. Like many of Pennsylvania's cities and boroughs that are at "build-out" stage, there are several townships outside of Harrisburg city limits that, although autonomous, use the name Harrisburg for postal and name-place designation. They include the townships of: Lower Paxton, Middle Paxton, Susquehanna, Swatara and West Hanover in Dauphin County. The borough of Penbrook, located just east of Reservoir Park, was previously known as East Harrisburg. Penbrook, along with the borough of Paxtang, also located just outside of the city limits, maintain Harrisburg zip codes as well. The United States Postal Service designates 26 zip codes for Harrisburg, including 13 for official use by federal and state government agencies.[5]

See also: List of Harrisburg neighborhoods
Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Rec High °F 73 75 86 93 97 100 107 101 102 97 84 75
Norm High °F 37.5 40.9 50.9 62.6 72.6 80.8 85.7 83.7 75.7 64.3 52.5 41.7
Norm Low °F 23.1 24.7 32.5 41.5 51.4 60.6 66 64.2 56.7 44.6 36.1 27.8
Rec Low °F -9 -5 5 19 31 40 49 45 30 23 13 -8
Precip (in) 3.18 2.88 3.58 3.31 4.6 3.99 3.21 3.24 3.65 3.06 3.53 3.22
Source: USTravelWeather.com [1]

[edit] People and culture in Harrisburg

[edit] Culture

Harrisburg enjoys a reputation as a source for many arts and cultural opportunities, largely due to its prominence as one of the oldest American state capital cities in the urbanized, Northeastern United States.

The city’s relative proximity to the larger metropolitan areas of Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC also plays an influential part in Harrisburg’s cultural life. Many new and long established organizations continue to professionalize themselves by rising to new standards which have been reciprocally supported by the city, the corporate sector, and the community at large.

Center City is credited with two major performance centers which are unsurpassed not only for a city the size of Harrisburg but also in terms of their quality in design and complement. The Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, which was completed in 1999, is the first center of its type in the United States where education, science and the performing arts take place under one roof. The Forum, a magnificent 1,763-seat concert and lecture hall built in 1930-31, is a state-owned and operated facility prominently located within the State Capitol Complex. Since 1931, The Forum has been home to the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra.

Beginning in 2001, downtown Harrisburg saw a surge of commercial nightlife development. This has been credited with reversing the city's financial decline, and has made downtown Harrisburg a destination for events from jazz festivals to Top-40 nightclubs.

Harrisburg is also the home of the annual Pennsylvania Farm Show, the largest agricultural exhibition of its kind in the nation. In 2004, Harrisburg hosted CowParade, an international public art exhibit that has been featured in major cities all over the world. Fiberglass sculptures of cows are decorated by local artists, and distributed over the city centre, in public places such as train stations and parks. They often feature artwork and designs specific to local culture, as well as city life and other relevant themes.

[edit] Demographics

Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
1790 875
–
1800 1,472 68.2%
1810 2,287 55.4%
1820 2,990 30.7%
1830 4,312 44.2%
1840 5,980 38.7%
1850 7,834 31.0%
1860 13,405 71.1%
1870 23,104 72.4%
1880 30,762 33.1%
1890 39,385 28.0%
1900 50,167 27.4%
1910 64,186 27.9%
1920 75,917 18.3%
1930 80,339 5.8%
1940 83,893 4.4%
1950 89,544 6.7%
1960 79,697 -11.0%
1970 68,061 -14.6%
1980 53,264 -21.7%
1990 52,376 -1.7%
2000 48,950 -6.5%

As of the census of 2005, there were an estimated 47,472 people living in Harrisburg. In the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 48,950 people, 20,561 households, and 10,917 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,330.4/km² (6,035.6/mi²). There were 24,314 housing units at an average density of 1,157.5/km² (2,997.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 31.72% White, 54.83% Black or African American, 0.37% Native American, 2.83% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 6.54% from other races, and 3.64% from two or more races. 11.69% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Harrisburg is the 6th most populous city in the eastern U.S. and 47th in the nation of Vietnamese population with 2,649 residents.[6]

There were 20,561 households out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 23.4% were married couples living together, 24.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.9% were non-families. 39.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 3.15.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.2% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,920, and the median income for a family was $29,556. Males had a median income of $27,670 versus $24,405 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,787. About 23.4% of families and 24.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.9% of those under age 18 and 16.6% of those age 65 or over.

The very first census taken in the United States occurred in 1790. At that time Harrisburg was a small, but substantial colonial town with a population of 875 residents.[7] With the increase of the cities prominence as an industrial and transportation center, Harrisburg reached its peak population build up in 1950, topping out at nearly 90,000 residents. Since the 1950s, Harrisburg, along with other northeastern urban centers large and small, has experienced a declining population that is ultimately fueling the growth of its suburbs.[8] Unlike Western and Southern states, Pennsylvania maintains a complex system of municipalities and has very little legislation on either the annexation/expansion of cities or the consolidating of municipal entities.

[edit] Media

The Harrisburg area has two daily newspapers. The Patriot-News is published in Harrisburg and has a daily circulation of over 100,000. The Sentinel, which is published in Carlisle, roughly 20 miles west of Harrisburg, serves many of Harrisburg's western suburbs in Cumberland County. The Press and Journal, published in Middletown, is one of many weekly, general information newspapers in the Harrisburg area. There are also numerous television and radio stations in the Harrisburg/Lancaster/York area, which makes up the 41st largest media market in the nation.

[edit] Newspapers

See also: List of newspapers in Harrisburg

[edit] Television

See also: List of TV stations in Harrisburg

[edit] Radio

According to Arbitron, Harrisburg's radio market is ranked #78.

FM radio stations in the Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon market (Arbitron #79)
Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon
(Arbitron #79)

By frequency: 88.1 | 89.5 | 91.7 | 92.1 | 92.7 | 93.5 | 94.9 | 97.3 | 98.9 | 99.3 | 100.1 | 101.3 | 102.3 | 104.1 | 105.7 | 106.7

By callsign: WCAT | WGTY | WHKF | WITF | WJAZ | WMHX | WNNK | WQIC | WQLV | WQXA | WRBT | WROZ | WRVV | WSJW | WTPA | WWKL | WXPH
Other
See also: Harrisburg (FM) (AM)
Arbitron-Ranked Pennsylvania Radio Markets:

Allentown (FM) (AM) | Altoona | Erie (FM) (AM) | Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon (FM) (AM) | Johnstown | Lancaster (FM) (AM) | Meadville-Franklin | Philadelphia (FM) (AM) | Pittsburgh (FM) (AM) | Reading | State College | Sunbury-Selinsgrove-Lewisburg | Wilkes Barre-Scranton (FM) (AM) | Williamsport | York (FM) (AM)

Non-Arbitron-Ranked Pennsylvania Radio Markets:
Northern Pennsylvania (includes DuBois, Kane, Punxsutawney, St. Marys, and Warren)

See also: List of radio stations in Pennsylvania and List of United States radio markets
See also: List of FM stations in Harrisburg

[edit] Harrisburg in film

Several feature films and television series have been filmed or set in and around Harrisburg and the greater Susquehanna Valley.

See also: Harrisburg in film and television

[edit] Museums, art collections, and sites of interest

[edit] Notable residents

Since the early 1700s, Harrisburg has been home to many people of note. Due to the fact that it is the seat of government for the Commonwealth, and in relative proximity to other urban centers, Harrisburg has played a significant role in the nation's political, cultural and industrial history. Harrisburgers have also taken a leading role in the development of Pennsylvania's history for over two centuries. Two former U.S. Secretaries of War, Simon Cameron and Alexander Ramsey and several other prominent political figures, such as former speaker of the house Newt Gingrich, hail from Harrisburg. Many notable individuals are interned at Harrisburg Cemetery and East Harrisburg Cemetery.

Further information: List of famous people from Harrisburg

[edit] Sports

Team Sport League Championships Venue
Harrisburg Senators Baseball Eastern League; Southern Division 6 (1987, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999) Commerce Bank Park
Harrisburg City Islanders Soccer USL Second Division 0 Skyline Sports Complex
Hershey Bears Ice hockey American Hockey League; Eastern Conference 9 (1947, 1958, 1959, 1969, 1974, 1980, 1988, 1997, 2006) GIANT Center
Harrisburg RFC Rugby union EPRU Division III 1 (2006) Cibort Park, in Bressler
Central Penn Piranha Football North American Football League; PA Division 3 Nat'l Championships (1999, 2002, 2005) Skyline Sports Complex
Harrisburg Horizon Basketball Eastern Basketball Association 5 (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) Manny Weaver Gym, Rowland Middle School

[edit] Architecture

Harrisburg is home to one of the most magnificent State Capitol buildings in the United States. Completed in 1906, the central dome rises to a height of 272 feet (83 m) and was modeled on that of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, Rome. The building was designed by Joseph M. Huston and is adorned with sculpture, most notably the two groups, Love and Labor, the Unbroken Law and The Burden of Life, the Broken Law by sculptor George Grey Barnard; murals by Violet Oakley and Edwin Austin Abbey; tile floor by Henry Mercer, which tells the story of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

[edit] Government

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. City Government Center, the only city hall in the United States named for a civil rights leader, serves as a central location for the administrative functions of the city [10].

Harrisburg has been served since 1970 by the “strong mayor” form of municipal government, with separate executive and legislative branches. The Mayor serves a four-year term with no term limits. As the full-time chief executive, the Mayor oversees the operation of 34 agencies, run by department and office heads, some of whom comprise the Mayor’s cabinet, including the Departments of Public Safety (police and fire bureaus), Public Works, Business Administration, Parks and Recreation, Incineration and Steam Generation, Building & Housing Development and Solicitor. The city has 721 employees (2003).[11] The current mayor of Harrisburg is Stephen R. Reed (D), whose current term expires January 2010.

See also: List of mayors of Harrisburg

There are seven city council members, all elected at large, who serve part-time for four-year terms. There are two other elected city posts, City Treasurer and City Controller, who separately head their own fiscally related offices.

Dauphin County Government Complex, in downtown Harrisburg, serves the administrative functions of the county. The trial court of general jurisdiction for Harrisburg rests with the Court of Dauphin County and is largely funded and operated by county resources and employees.

Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex, dominates the city's stature as a regional and national hub for government and politics. All administrative functions of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are located within the complex and at various nearby locations.

Commonwealth Judicial Center, houses Pennsylvania's three appellate courts, which are located in Harrisburg. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which is the court of last resort in the state, regularly hears arguments at . The Superior Court of Pennsylvania and the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania are located here. Judges for these courts are elected at large.

Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse, located in downtown Harrisburg, serves as the regional administrative offices of the federal government. A branch of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania is also located within the courthouse.

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Airports

Domestic and International airlines provide services via Harrisburg International Airport (MDT), which is located southeast of the city in Middletown. HIA is the third-busiest commercial airport in Pennsylvania, both in terms of passengers served and cargo shipments.[12] Passenger carriers that serve HIA include US Airways, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, and Air Canada. Capital City Airport (CXY), a moderate-sized business class and general aviation airport, is located across the Susquehanna River in the nearby suburb of New Cumberland, south of Harrisburg. Both airports are owned and operated by the Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority (SARAA), which also manages the Franklin County Regional Airport in Chambersburg and Gettysburg Regional Airport in Gettysburg.

[edit] Bridges

Harrisburg is the location of over a dozen large bridges, many up to a mile long, that cross the Susquehanna River. Several other important structures span the Paxton Creek watershed and Cameron Street, linking Center City with neighborhoods in East Harrisburg. These include the State Street Bridge, also known as the Soldiers and Sailor's Memorial Bridge, and the Mulberry Street Bridge.

See also: List of crossings of the Susquehanna River

[edit] Rail

The Pennsylvania Railroad's main line from New York to Chicago passed, unsurprisingly, through Harrisburg. The line was electrified in the 1930s, with the wires reaching Harrisburg in 1938. They went no further. Plans to electrify through to Pittsburgh and thence to Chicago never saw fruition; sufficient funding was never available. Thus, Harrisburg became where the PRR's crack expresses such as the Broadway Limited changed from electric traction to (originally) a steam locomotive, and later a diesel locomotive. Harrisburg remained a freight rail hub for PRR's successor Conrail, which was later sold off and divided between Norfolk Southern and CSX.

Norfolk Southern acquired all of Conrail's lines in the Harrisburg area and has continued the city's function as a freight rail hub. Norfolk Southern considers Harrisburg one of the 3 primary hubs in its system, along with Chicago and Atlanta, and operates 2 intermodal (rail/truck transfer) yards in the immediate Harrisburg area.[13] The Harrisburg Intermodal Yard (formerly called Lucknow Yard) is located in the north end of Harrisburg, approximately 3 miles north of downtown Harrisburg and the Harrisburg Transportation Center, while the Rutherford Intermodal Yard is located approximately 6 miles east of downtown Harrisburg in Swatara Township, Dauphin County. Norfolk Southern also operates a significant classification yard in the Harrisburg area, the Enola Yard, which is located across the Susquehanna River from Harrisburg in East Pennsboro Township, Cumberland County.

Amtrak provides extensive service to and from Harrisburg. The passenger rail operator runs its Keystone and Pennsylvanian services between New York, Philadelphia, and the Harrisburg Transportation Center daily. The Pennsylvanian route, which operates once daily, continues west to Pittsburgh. Before 2006, Amtrak ran 11 weekday roundtrips and 6 weekend roundtrips daily between Harrisburg and Philadelphia 30th Street Station; more than half of these trains also traveled to and from New York Penn Station. Amtrak increased the number of daily weekday roundtrips between Harrisburg and Philadelphia to 14 trips when the Keystone Corridor improvements were completed in late 2006. The improvements include upgrading the electrical catenary and replacing existing wooden railroad ties with concrete ties. These improvements increased train speeds to 110 mph along the corridor and reduced the travel time between Harrisburg and Philadelphia to as little as 90 minutes. It also eliminated the need to change locomotives at 30th Street Station (from diesel to electric and vice-versa) for trains continuing to or coming from New York. The Harrisburg Transportation Center is the 2nd busiest Amtrak station in Pennsylvania and 27th busiest in the United States (just ahead of the nearby Lancaster train station in both categories), and had 339,599 boardings plus alightings in Federal Fiscal Year 2005 (October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005).[14]

[edit] Intercity bus service

The lower level of the Harrisburg Transportation Center serves as the Harrisburg Bus Terminal. Daily inter-city bus services are provided by Greyhound, Capitol Trailways, Fullington Trailways, and Susquehanna Trailways. They connect Harrisburg to other Pennsylvania cities such as Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Reading, Scranton, York, State College, and Williamsport and cities in nearby states such as New York, Baltimore, Washington, DC, Binghamton, NY, and Syracuse, NY, plus many other destinations via transfers.[15]

[edit] Mass transit

Harrisburg is served by Capital Area Transit (CAT) which provides public bus, paratransit, and commuter rail service throughout the greater metropolitan area. Construction of a commuter rail line called CorridorOne, will eventually link the city with nearby Lancaster in 2008.

Long-term plans for the region call for the commuter rail line to continue westward to Cumberland County, ending at Carlisle. In early 2005, the project hit a roadblock when the Cumberland County Commissioners opposed the plan to extend commuter rail to the West Shore. Due to lack of support from the county commissioners, the Cumberland County portion, and the two new stations in Harrisburg have been removed from the project. In the future, with support from Cumberland County, CorridorOne may extend to both shores of the Susquehanna River, where the majority of the commuting base for Harrisburg resides.[16]

In 2006, a second phase of the rail project (named CorridorTwo) was announced to the general public. It will link downtown Harrisburg with its eastern suburbs in Dauphin and Lebanon counties (including Hummelstown, Hershey and Lebanon), and the city of York in York County.[16] Future passenger rail corridors also include Route 15 from the Harrisburg area towards Gettysburg, as well as the Susquehanna River communities north of Harrisburg, and the Northern Susquehanna Valley region.[16]

[edit] Sister cities

Harrisburg has three sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International.

[edit] Education

[edit] Public schools

The City of Harrisburg is served by the Harrisburg School District. The school district provides education for the city’s youth beginning with all-day kindergarten through twelfth grade. A multi-year restructuring plan is aimed at making the district a model for urban public schools. The Central Dauphin School District, the largest public school district in the metropolitan area and the 13th largest in Pennsylvania, uses several Harrisburg postal addresses for many of the districts schools. The city also maintains one public charter school, the Sylvan Heights Science Charter School. In addition, Harrisburg is home to an arts-focused magnet school, the Capital Area School for the Arts. In 2003, SciTech High, a regional math and science magnet school affiliated with Harrisburg University, opened its doors to students.

[edit] Private schools

Harrisburg is home to an extensive Catholic educational system. There are nearly 40 parish-driven elementary schools and seven Catholic high schools within the region administered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, including Bishop McDevitt High School. Numerous other private schools, such as the The Londonderry School and The Circle School, which is a Sudbury Model school, also operate in Harrisburg. Harrisburg Academy, founded in 1784 is one of the oldest independent college preparatory schools in the nation. The Rabbi David L. Silver Yeshiva Academy, founded in 1944, is a progressive, modern Jewish day school.

[edit] Higher education

In Harrisburg

Near Harrisburg

[edit] Libraries

[edit] Miscellanea

"…We emerged upon the streets of Harrisburg, whose feeble lights, reflected dismally from the wet ground, did not shine out upon a very cheerful city."[17][18]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Find more information on Harrisburg by searching Wikipedia's sister projects
Dictionary definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews
Learning resources from Wikiversity

[edit] References

  1. ^ City of Harrisburg Economic Profile: Overview. harrisburgpa.gov/ (2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-06.
  2. ^ The Underground Railroad
  3. ^ History of Steelton, PA
  4. ^ vom Hove, Tann (2006). John So, Lord Mayor of Melbourne wins the 2006 World Mayor Award. worldmayor.com/. Retrieved on 2006-12-31.
  5. ^ United States Postal Service (2007). Zip Code search for Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. usps.gov/. Retrieved on 2007-01-03.
  6. ^ VIETNAMESE POPULATION BY REGION
  7. ^ Population of the 100 Largest Cities 1790 to 1990
  8. ^ "Harrisburg Industrializes, The coming of factories to an American community," Eggert, Gerald G.; The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993
  9. ^ History of the Broad Street Market. Broad Street Market Corporation (2007). Retrieved on 2007-01-17.
  10. ^ Central Business District overview
  11. ^ Harrisburg:Municipal Government
  12. ^ City of Harrisburg (2006). Transportation in the Harrisburg area. harrisburgpa.gov/. Retrieved on 2007-01-03.
  13. ^ NS opens intermodal hub at Harrisburg - Norfolk Southern - Brief Article (July 2000)
  14. ^ Amtrak station factsheet - 2005. Amtrak (2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-24.
  15. ^ About the Harrisburg Transportation Center. Tri-County Regional Planning Commission (2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
  16. ^ a b c CorridorOne in the Harrisburg Region. Tri-County Regional Planning Commission (2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-24.
  17. ^ a b c Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's Capital City. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
  18. ^ American Notes, Chapter 10. Literature Network (2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-01.


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Harrisburg (capital)
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